Operation June Bug
by Ms. Rockette
Summary: June Whitefeather tried to keep it a secret, she didn't want anyone to know, but when the X-men realize that Pyro's back, and wants to use June for his own agenda, June has no choice but to fight. Please read! The story is so much better than the summary!
1. The Visitors

"Wait!"

"No!"

"Stop!"

"That hurts!"

"That's not fair!"

"Run!"

"Get away!"

"No!"

June Whitefeather woke in a start. She was drenched in sweat, matting her dark curls to her neck and forehead. She heard the sound of voices in the kitchen below her of the ranch house she shared with her Nana, but something in her gut told her that those weren't the same voices that were talking with her earlier. She couldn't think of who it was downstairs- the closet thing to a town in this part of New Mexico was over ten miles away, and people hardly disturbed their daily routines just for a daily routine. June recognized one of the voices as her Nana's, and could tell that the people downstairs were strangers, they evidently did not realize that Nana only spoke Spanish.

June groaned realizing she would have to get up and address the people downstairs. As she hopped out of her saggy mattress, she reminded herself that she needed to slip some jeans on before heading down. The attic, where her "room" was, was the hottest part of the old house, and with poor ventilation, June often slept on a bare mattress with nothing but a cami and underwear.

She ran her hand through her long dark curls upon her entrance to the kitchen. Her Nana was on her feet talking rapidly in Spanish to two women dressed predominately in black. One woman had caramel colored skin with bright white hair. While this woman's appearance was eye catching, the other woman's appearance was equally surprising. While she appeared no older than 25, she had a thick strip of white hair at her brow.

"Nana?" June asked, interrupting her grandmother's tirade. "Quiénes son ellas?" She asked who the people standing in her kitchen were.

"No sé."

"Who are you?" June asked, directing her question to their visitors now.

"I'm Ororo, and this is Marie." The first woman said in a soft voice, taking a small step forward. "We need to discuss something with you, but we must hurry."

"From the government?" June asked impatiently. It was too early in the morning for her to argue with the feds for the sake of her grandmother. They always wanted to know where Nana's green card was, or whether or not the ranching that they were doing was legal.

Marie giggled. "No!" June caught a bit of a southern accent in her response.

"Nana," June said to her grandmother, "Ellas no son del gobierno. Sientate, tus huesos son viejos." Her grandmother nodded and took a seat to relax her legs. "Listen," she said redirecting herself once again to the strange women in her house, "We don't want to buy anything, register for anything, subscribe to anything, test anyth-,"

"We're not." Ororo interrupted.

"Listen, we're here because we want to help you. We know… about you." Marie explained.

June's neck grew stiff. "I'm sorry, I'm lost… and hungry, so if you could cut the hidden text stuff, it would be appreciated."

"June, we know what your capable of, you know, creating energy balls, _jumping._"

June froze, and her grandmother noticed the stiffness.

"Qué quieren ellas?" her grandmother asked quickly.

June shook her head. "Un momento, Nana. What do you mean you know? I didn't tell anyone, 'cept for Nana, but she doesn't leave the house! Damn, you are the feds! I knew it!" June started to back up.

Marie shook her head. "No, sweetie, we're not the feds… wouldn't that be funny, Storm? We're just like you, June. We can do… stuff."

June didn't believe them at first. Why should she? But then again, why shouldn't she? Why was it so hard to believe that someone else could be like her.

"To put it simply, June, you're a mutant."


	2. Tell Me More

Pyro was couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Let me get this straight. You're going to give me, us, the key to take both the humans and Xaivier down, and lead the mutants to world domination and you don't want anything in return? That's ridiculuous! No one is ever that generous without a catch." He spoke quickly to the figure who was cloaked in the shadows.

He could hear the murmured agreements of his "friends" behind him. Among them, Toad and Mystique. They were all standing in a cold cellar of a dilapidated farmhouse, and all of them were grouchy and growing impatient.

The figure growled, detesting the defiance. "Listen to me! I can offer you everything, but you have to trust me!"

"Then tell us. What do you get out of this?" Pyro argued.

"Everything you do, my boy, everything you do."

"A mutant? But that's ridiculous. That's like saying there are such things as werewolves!"

Marie giggled again. "Funny you should say that. I'm friends with one!"

June's jaw dropped. "Mutants are just make-believe. Only Crazy Ed from town talks about mutants, and he's always drunk!"

"You guys don't get cable here, do you?" Ororo asked.

"No, why?" June asked, catching on to what Ororo was about to say.

"Well we've been all in the news these past few years. Framed for doing things we haven't done. We want to take you to our school back in New York, so you can learn to use your gifts, so you don't become the kind of angry and dangerous mutants humans makes us out to be- so that you're not a danger to others or yourself."

June looked from Ororo, to Nana, to Marie, to Nana, to Ororo again. "Tell me more."

It was August 22th and the students at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters were as wild as ever, trying to enjoy there last couple of days freedom before the school year began on the first of the month. Kit and Katie Carson were sitting next to each other in the lunchroom enjoying deli sandwiches and French fries. Kit and Katie were faternal twins seven and a half minutes apart. Both had incredibly straight platinum blonde hair, Kit's wore his just a bit longer than a buzz cut and Katie wore her all the way down to the middle of her back. But what made the siblings unusual were their eyes. Katie's left was blue and her right eye was green. Kit's left eye was green and his right eye was blue. The pair of them had always loved their eyes, amazed at the wonder of it.

Across the table sat Matthew and Eric. Matthew, was a stocky German boy, who had the body of a football player, built thick and strong, but Eric was taller and leaner. He was a runner and a ball player. His caramel skin and dark curly hair made any girl want

to melt.

"…and then the blonde said, 'I wish I could be a penguin!'" Matthew said, with a large grin attached to his face as he finished his joke.

The rest of the kids at the table groaned. "Ugh!" Kit whined, "I can't believe you! And in front of me and Kaite? That's just low man!"

Katie giggled, and tucked a piece of blonde hair behind her ear. "Kit's right, Matt! That's cruel! Go find some manners!"

The table continued to laugh at stupid blonde jokes, enjoying their vacation while they could. When they ran out of jokes, the table grew quiet.

"Hey, guys, guess what I know?" Eric said finally. The rest of them leaned into the table. "We're getting a new student. She's our age, from New Mexico, I don't know what powers she has, Xavier was holding her folder."

"This late in the game?" Katie asked quietly, knowing that they weren't even supposed to know about these things, but their curiosity combined with their gifts tempted them to monitor the whereabouts of the mansion. Eric and Matthew was the best at it though. With the powers to control time and camouflage, respectively, they would overhear when the teachers were meeting for something important, and Eric would freeze time so they could get in the meeting room look through all the papers and leave without being noticed. They had a feeling Xavier knew about what they were doing, but so far he hadn't stopped them.

"How do you mean?" Matt asked.

"I mean she's what? Sixteen? If she's lasted this long without Xavier, why get her now? He usually sends for us when we're younger, right?" Katie asked, skeptically.

"Maybe she was hard to track or somethin'. Or her powers are gonna grow to unimaginable strength." Kit offered.

Katie shrugged. "What's her name?"

Eric paused, then told her. "June Whitefeather."


	3. Welcome Part I

June sat in one of the seats of the so-called "X-Jet" as it rocketed towards Westchester, New York. They had barely been in the air for two minutes and already she was missing her Nana. She needed Nana and Nana needed her. At least Roberto, her cousin, would be staying with her now. Would he be able to take care of her, though? Would he know that she likes to have a foot massage at noon and then another at eight o'clock? At least she was allowed to bring Eagle, her small wolf pup. She had found him a week earlier, caught in a trap out in the wild. She couldn't find his mother, and so took him in as her own. Eagle was sleeping on her lap, and June studied his small fluffy gray body as it expanded and retracted with each breath and thought back to today's event's when something hit her. The three of them had left fairly quickly, seeing as June only had a duffle bag worth of clothing, but still she felt like she was being rushed. She hadn't even been given time really to say goodbye to her home. Now that she thought about it, she remembered Ororo constantly urging her to hurry up.

"Marie?" She asked. She had instantly taken a liking to the young women, and preferred to ask her than Ororo the question that was beginning to annoy her.

"Hmm?" Marie hummed, glancing up from the magazine she was reading.

"Back at my house, Ororo told me we had to hurry. How come?"

"First of all, call me Rogue. That's been bugging me. No one calls me Marie, not even the professor. Ororo, or as you'll come to know her, Storm, was just in her "formal introductions phase". She didn't want to scare you off."

"Okay, _Rogue_. But my question?"

Rogue sighed, folded her magazine, and flattened it across her lap. "There's this thing, well, er, group called the Brotherhood. They're what you might call your classic bad guys or villans. Any who, they have this deranged vision that mutants will never be accepted and they feel they have to 'get rid of' all the humans in order to be accepted. The professor thinks they want to use you to fulfill that goal."

June gasped, as she felt her stomach jump and drop. "What ? How?"

"Whoa there! Calm down! It's not all it's cracked up to be. Trust me. Magneto, the brotherhood's old leader tried to use me, too." Rogue fingered her white streaks with a smile. "That's how I got these. I kinda like them."

June tried to smile in return, but it was hard. The idea that someone wanted to use her, like a tool, or key, just downright scared her. The whole idea was deafening to her, she wanted to vomit right there on the jet.

For the rest of the ride she fell in and out of sleep, having the same frightening dream. She was falling in the arms of a man. He was strong, and was holding her close. He kept calling her name and with each breath she felt more suppressed then there would be a blinding light and she would wake with a start. For the last ten minutes of the ride she kept herself up on purpose to stop the dream… but she had a dreading feeling that it would be back that night.

When the reached the mansion, June looked out the window and took a look at the enormity of the estate. "I'm gonna live here?" she gaped.

They landed, after Rogue explained the retractable basketball court that allowed the jet to land in the basement, and Rogue led her through the mansion to her dorm room. The room, which was carpeted, something June would have to get used to, had a set of twin beds one on each side of the room. There was also a desk, dresser and nightstand, all made of mahogany wood with brass handles and trimming, on each side. Half the room was decorated wildly, with posters on the walls, stickers on the furniture, and the bed was unmade. The other side looked untouched, the blue blankets were folded, wrinkle free on the bed, and the furniture appeared to be in mint condition.

"You're sharing the room with Katie. She's awesome- tons of energy, crazy attitude and a bright smile. Later, if you want to find her, she's the one with the really long blonde hair, and her eyes are two different colors." Rogue told her, as June walked in the room getting a feel for it. She put Eagle and her duffle bag down on the mattress, which she noticed didn't sag.

"Two different colors?" June asked.

Rogue nodded. "Green and blue. The bathroom's there," Rogue said pointing to the door by Kaite's bed, "and the room next to your's shares that bathroom, there's an adjoining door. I think Sunny and Dakota have that room. I don't know them that well."

June shrugged. "Where's everybody now?"

"Well," Rogue glanced at her watch, "Lunch just ended, most of the kids should be either in the game room or outside in the back. Kaite's usually out back. Don't worry about finding your way, this place really isn't that complicated… after a while."

"Cool?" June said quietly and questionably. She was not quite sure if she was using the term correctly.

Rogue nodded and gave her a wink, leaving her in the room. June fell onto the mattress, starred into space when she felt her eyes begin to burn, and suddenly she burst into tears. Her face grew hot and she let it all out, all of the confusion, the hate, the ignorance, the frustration. It was quite a sight, a 15 year-old girl of Native American and Spanish heritage sitting with her hands in her lap and a wolf pup biting her big toe on her right foot, sobbing in one the biggest mansions on the eastern coast. She cried for five minutes straight, missing Nana, her home, her security. When she finished, she was exhausted, but forced herself up and walked to the bathroom, convincing herself that she wouldn't let this be a bad experience.

Kit was passing a soccer ball with Matthew and Eric when he first saw her. She was about five and a half feet with a dancer's body. Her long dark curly hair was pulled up in a pony tail, but the shorter strands had fallen out. She was wearing jeans, with holes at the knees, and a sleeveless tee, showing off her fit and tanned arms. To put it simply-she was beautiful. Kit was so distracted that he missed the ball when Eric passed it at him.

"C'mon Kit, pay attention!" Eric groaned, chasing after the ball. Katie who was just standing around singing one of her favorite songs, offered to get it for him.

Kit continued to stare. The girl looked around obviously looking for someone, although he wasn't sure who since she was new. She was obviously nervous, she had been fidgeting with her hands until she picked up the dog that was waiting loyally at her feet, as she continued to scan the lawn where dozens of kids of all ages were playing games and running around.

"Kit, what the hell are you looking at?" Matt asked impatiently.

"That new kid… she's here." Kit said quietly, although it didn't matter, the girl wasn't close enough for her to hear him.

"What? Where?" Eric asked. The other two boys turned around.

"Right there, by the door. God, she's-," Kit started.

"Hot." Matt finished for him.

"Who are you guys talking about now?" Katie asked shoving the ball into her brother's stomach to break his gaze.

"The new chick."


	4. Welcome Part II

June was scared. She had never been more scared in her life. Wait, that's a lie, she had been even more frightened before, once before, six years ago…

She looked around searching for the blonde-haired girl named Katie when she noticed someone coming towards her. Sure enough it was the blonde-haired girl she was looking for, she could tell because of her eyes.

The girl walked right up to her and introduced herself. "Hi," she said in a soft sweet voice, "I'm Kaite. Cute dog. Are you June?"

June opened her mouth a little but said nothing, she wasn't sure what to say. How did this girl know her name? Why was she so forward?

"You do talk don't you?" Katie asked, a wider smile on her face.

June nodded, and then told her. "Yes, I speak, I was just, well, surprised. The wolf's name is Eagle."

"It's a wolf named Eagle? Weird."

"You're pretty forward aren't you?"

If it was possible, Katie grinned even more. "Yes, I am, but you'll get used to it, everyone does. Come, I would like you to meet my friends." Katie turned on her heel and started singing 'Amazing Grace' as she led June across the lawn where Matt, Eric and Kit were waiting., and all June could think of was how random and quick the introduction had been, the girl hadn't even been subtle. Was everything in New York, around here that fast?

"Will you ever stop singing, woman?" Kit asked with a smile as soon as his sister arrived. Katie shook her head and continued, but she lowered her voice. "Hi, I'm Kit, and that's a cute dog," he said, giving Eagle a short head rub. "This is Matt and Eric."

"Hey."

"Hey."

June smiled. "Hi, I'm June."

"Yeah, we know, we were snooping through the Professor's files." Eric offered. "You do know about the Professor, right?"

June nodded. "Oro- Storm told me about him." The others nodded.

Katie finished singing her song. "Okay, the formal introductions are over. June and I need to have some serious girl time, okay?" The guys groaned but nodded and left the girls to walk the lawn.

"Okay," Katie started off. "Do you know who you're rooming with?"

"You. Didn't you know?"

"No! Really? This is so cool! C'mon, let's head up." It was more of an order than it was a suggestion.

When the girls reached their room, June sat on her own bed and half-expected Katie to do the same, but instead, Katie stood in the door frame and scanned the room.

"Did they forget to bring your stuff up?" she asked.

"What do you mean? My stuff is right here," June said acknowledging her duffle bag.

"That's it?" Kaite frowned.

June blushed and nodded.

"I don't mean to sound critical, but, sweetie we're going shopping!" Katie squealed crossing to June's bed. June, however lowered her head.

"I don't have any money."

Katie let out a laugh. "Not yours!" Katie opened June's bag, and started putting things away in drawers. "Xavier's, the professor's. The government is funding his school right now… After that whole thing with Stryker, we'll fill you in later, the feds have finally figured that this place might be some use, as long as Xavier keeps his mouth shut. The professor was rich in the first place so… he's got alotta extra cash, if you know what I mean."

June smiled. "Okay."

"You know what? This could be like a girl's day out thing!" Katie closed one of the dresser drawers, walked into the bathroom, and knocked on the door that connected with the other room. "Sunny! Ming! C'mon, we're having a girl's day out thing! Get you butts out here!"

"Wait, we're having it today?" June asked. Back in New Mexico, she would prepare for days before she decided to go into town, she would have to save up gas money, check to see if the old pick-up would even be able to carry her. But, she reminded herself, she wasn't in New Mexico anymore.

There were two more girls standing in their room now. Sunny McNair, a sixteen year-old blonde, stood at 5'8" and was very pleased with her figure now after dropping ten pounds over the past year. Ming Nash was the smallest girl June had ever seen, which really is an understatement seeing as June hadn't really seen that many girls her age. Ming stood at five feet even and probably weighed ninety pounds at the max.

"Hi, I'm Sunny! And this is Ming," Sunny said giving her friend a small hug.

June gave a small wave. "June."

"That's a pretty name." Ming said.

"Thanks!" June smiled.

Sunny turned to Katie. "So what are we talking about?"

"I'm thinking, H&M, Nordstroms, the salon, and then Coldstone." Katie grinned.

"Mmm, ice cream! I'm so in!"

June looked down at her grungy jeans and shirt. "Can I go in this?"

"Uh, the jeans, sure, they've got a cute grungy look to them, but that top is not gonna be warm enough for you in the mall."

Ming smiled and offered, "I think she'd fit your stuff Katie."

Katie nodded, "That's what I was thinking."


	5. Gifts

June finally was beginning to feel a sense of belonging among Katie, Sunny, and Ming. She was wearing Katie's blue spaghetti strapped shirt, and Ming had combed out her hair, so that it was free and with a little bit of curl. Sunny had convinced Rogue to let them borrow her car so that they could go shopping and even though Katie was seventeen and Sunny was sixteen, Sunny was the only one who was allowed to drive the car, seeing as she was a bit more down to earth. Unfortunately, June couldn't take Eagle with her, so left him in the pen that rogue had left her.

From H&M and Nordstrom's they had bought five new outfits for June, including shoes and accessories, and at the salon, Sunny had gotten her hair highlighted with platinum blonde streaks. When the others saw how much fun she was having, Katie decided cut her hair to her shoulders, Ming got her bangs cut, and June got her hair layered and then streaked her black hair with a deep shade of purple that blended perfectly.

When the girls walked into Coldstone, the ice cream shop, afterwards, they looked like totally different people. Over their cake batter flavored ice cream the girls discussed life in Xavier's.

"It actually is pretty cool, June. You'll love it here" Ming said finishing up the conversation.

"I know what else she would love. Tickets to a Knick's game. Front and center." A voice said from behind June.

She wasn't quite sure who it could've been. She had just gotten here that day, why would someone be asking her out? Besides, "Who are the Knick's? And can't you find a better way to ask me out?" June asked as she turned around, and regretted her harsh words. The voice belonged to a very handsome young man. He had reddish hair, pink lips that were oddly attractive and bright hazel eyes.

"Hey," he held out his hand, "I'm Dean, I take it you're June?" he asked, ignoring her rude remark earlier.

"Uh, yeah."

Sunny, let out a large deliberate sigh, "Dean, stop being a jerk." Sunny turned to June. "Dean goes to ours school, Eric or Kit probably told him about you." Sunny turned back to Dean. "What do you want?"

"I thought I had made it clear that I wanted to ask June here out to a basketball game."

"I've never been to one." June admitted, a bit of interest sparking in her stomach.

Ming grinned. "Then you should go."

"I'm still waiting for an answer." Dean pushed.

But Sunny was still skeptical. "Where'dya get the tickets? They better be legit."

"Only the best for milady in waiting." Dean joked.

June shrugged. "I dunno, I barely know you."

Dean smiled and then closed in on her, pulling on some puppy eyes, and wrapped his arm around the back of her chair. "The game isn't until October, we'll have plenty of time to get to know each other by then."

June looked over to Katie for help, but she was too involved with her ice cream to detect a silent cry for help. "And how do you know that I will like the person I get to know?"

Dean backed up and winked, "Trust me, you will," and then he left the creamery.

"Ignore him, he's a creep." Sunny warned.

"He seemed okay to me."

"That's because he's charismatic. Once you get to know him he can be a pain."

June nodded, and decided not to tell her that she was slightly interested in going. She had never been on a date before. She thought it might be fun, but she could tell that Sunny was hard-headed.

The girls left for Xavier's once again, and by the time they reached their dormitories they were still hyper from the ice-cream that they decided to have a slumber party in June and Katie's room. Sunny and Ming were on the floor between the two beds, and Katie and June were each in their own bed.

"You know what the first thing I think we should do is? Introduce ourselves." Ming suggested.

"We already did that dumb-butt!" Sunny groaned.

"No," Katie interrupted, "she doesn't mean that."

A moment of silence passed through the room and then suddenly Sunny let out a "oh" of realization.

"Me first, since I am her roommate and all." Katie turned to June. "Everybody here, as you probably already know is a mutant… blah blah blah, but what Ororo didn't explain is that us kids have chosen nicknames for ourselves, just like the X-men, we'll explain them to you later too. I'm going to tell you my nickname, and you're gonna guess what I can do, get it?"

June smiled and nodded, anxious to get started. She was very curious about their powers.

"YinYang. Oh, by the way, my power has to do with my brother."

June thought for a while, but couldn't think of anything. June shrugged.

"I have no idea."

"Okay mine's a bit complicated," Katie explained. "I'm telekinetic, and Kit's psychokinetic but we can only use our powers when we merge and become one person."

"Whoa! One person?" June gasped. "Please explain!"

"When we want, we merge into one person, sometimes the person looks like me or sometimes the person looks like him, and then we can use our powers. Xavier has a whole scientific explanation, but I don't like it, it's too long."

"Wow, that's neat."

"Okay! Me next!" Ming ordered. "My name is Sonica."

"Something to do with sound waves? Maybe?" June asked.

Ming nodded. "I can manipulate sound waves with my vocal chords and mind. I can create sonic booms, glass shattering pitches, and I can even make myself float by emitting intense sound waves from my body."

"That's awesome! I guess you never had a problem with karaoke!" June giggled. The other three girls groaned sarcastically.

"That was the absolute worst joke ever!" Sunny cried.

"I try!" June said, still laughing.

Sunny smiled. "Okay, my other name is Spark, but I am not a pyromaniac or something."

"Spark? Okay, ummm, not fire. Electricity?"

Sunny shook her head. "I can make things explode with my mind." Sunny grinned when she saw June's horrified face. "Oh, something Katie neglected to tell you. We, including, Kit, Matt, and Eric have made a mock world. We represent the X-men, except we are the 'Kiss-Me Kate's' and the guys are the 'Wild Billls', which are like the Brotherhood. As if you have to ask, the names were Katies ideas. They're kinda like little clubs, but we have a lot of fun together."

Ming grinned. "This is my favorite part!"

"Now, the only way you can join," Katie began, "Is you have to tell us your power, a potential nickname and then you have to perform a dare using your gift. It usually involves sabotage against the Wild Bills. Got it?"

June's eyes widened, but she nodded anyway. "Well, my power is well I can 'jump' into other people's bodies, kinda like possess them, and then when I 'jump' back out of their body I can pull out some of their energy, in the form of an energy ball that I can hold in my hand and send into other things, like a bullet." June waited for a response, but she got none so she kept on talking. "I guess you guys could call me Jumper?"

The Kiss-Me Kates starred blindly at her until finally Katie spoke up. "The Kiss-Me Kates want a demonstration."

"Umm, okay. Can I do it on Eagle?" June asked, acknowledging her small wolf pup, remembering all the times she had practiced on him to remain in control of her power.

The girls nodded. June gently picked up Eagle, and sat him on her lap facing her. She said a few words of encouragement to her pet, and then took a deep breath.


	6. Sabotage

Matt was sitting on the top bunk of the bunk bed he shared with Kit. He had washed out all of the gel, and his hair was now looking very bedheadish. He was wearing one of his favorite muscle shirts and basketball shorts, and was just about to go to sleep, just as soon as Kit stopped gossiping with Eric.

"Man, she is a babe. I can't wait till she starts to you know, get the hang of things 'round here." Kit said, lying on his back in the middle of the floor starring at the ceiling.

"Oh shut-up. I'm trying to get to sleep!" Eric complained. He bundled himself up in his sheets and comforter, twisting himself into a cocoon. He turned over on his bed, so that his back faced Kit. It was entirely lucky that the three of them got to share the large room. When Xavier designed the building, he designed it so that the rooms on the ends of each room were significantly larger than the other dorm rooms. The larger rooms were where Scott, Jean, Ororo, and the rest of his senior officers were to sleep so that they could keep an eye on the children, but enrollment to his school had grown so large, that he expanded the basement and moved his senior officers downstairs with him. They had drawn straws to figure out who would get the larger rooms. Kit, Matt and Eric all had lucked out. The master rooms each had one bunk bed set and a twin bed, three desks, three dresser and a wardrobe, and tons of space.

"What about you?" Kit asked Matt, turning slightly to face his German born friend. "You like Katie, Katie likes you-,"

"and Rob likes Katie too." Matt interrupted. "I am not gonna make a move on your sister. Especially when Super-Creep is crushin' on her."

"Man, you could take Rob down anyday!" Kit groaned, "I would rather you with my sister than Rob. If you were Katie's boy, I would have your back, you know that."

"And what would happen when Rob and his friend Dean found out? Man it would be like Freddy and Jason versus the Rugrats."

"Man, we're better that them, they're just intimidators. With your morphing, or whatever you call it, powers, Eric's time powers, Ming, the screamsicle, Sunny's random bomb thing, Katie and me and then that new girl we could kick some serious ass, even when Dean and Rob have their back-up."

"What's that new girl's power anyway?" Eric asked joining the conversation suddenly.

"I dunno, but I suspect that the Kiss-Me Kates are gonna do something tonight,' Kit shrugged.

"Man, I can't believe we still do that!" Eric laughed, remembering the hilarious pranks the two groups had pulled on each other. Suddenly, however, he stopped, and he held out his hand to signal the other boys to stop laughing also. "Do you hear that?"

Kit rolled onto his stomach and groaned. "What? Hear what? I don't hear nothin'," Kit drawled.

"Double negative," Eric said nonchalantly almost as a reflex.

"No, no, I hear it too, at the door," Matt said, jumping down from his top bunk and crossing the room to their door. "It's like a scratching noise."

"Oooo, It's the ghost of summer's past, hunting you down," Kit laughed.

Matt shook his head with a smile then crossed to the door, and opened it, letting Eagle rush in, and jump into Eric's lap.

Eric patted the dog gently. "It's just June's dog. Must've gotten out of the girl's dorm room. I'd better return it." The dog barked in protest. "Alright then, nevermind, I won't." Eric closed his eyes for a moment.

"Eric? You okay?" Matt asked, climbing back up into his bunk and settling down.

"Yeah, um, just a headache?"

"Was that answer or a suggestion?" Kit asked.

"Answer. Can we turn the lights out now? I'm really tired, and I got this headache, I just wanna go to sleep."

"How can you be sleepy, Eric? You just had two cups of coffee downstairs like an hour ago."

"Umm, decaf?" Eric shrugged.

"Yeah right, like you would ever drink decaf."

"All the caffeine lately has been driven me crazy lately. Can't we just go to sleep?" Eric said. Matt and Kit both sensed irritation in his voice and decided not to push the envelope. Matt got under the covers, and Kit went and turned off the lights. That was at eleven-thirty.

Twelve-thirty: Silence

One o'clock: Silence

One o'three:

The rustling of sheets.

A floorboard squeaks.

Footsteps pad quietly on the ground.

The bathroom door opens, a stream of light from the bathroom falls onto the bedroom floor.

The bathroom door closes.

The medicine cabinet door sqeaks open.

A tin can is pulled from the cabinet.

One thirty:

The halls of the boy dormitories were filled with the screams of three adolesenct boys by the names of Matt, Kit, and Eric.


	7. The PreBattle Warmups

"What other choice do we have?" Pyro pushed. "It's the only thing we got, you know? We have to, we don't got a Cerebro, or anything close to that for that matter."

Isabelle looked down at her hands which were folded neatly on the dirty kitchen table. "John…"

"I told you! I hate that name! It is not my name!"

"I'm sorry, Pyro. It's just…well…. Can't we just follow her, and take her when it best suits us?" Isabelle begged.

"I dunno if it would work."

"Can't we try? I don't want to put our son in that sort of d- situation."

Pyro shrugged. "He can take care of himself."

"He's eight!" Isabelle was on the brink of tears.

"But he acts eighteen!" Pyro shouted back at her. She searched the small kitchen for something, anything to make her forget the horrid argument she was in. Anything to make her forget what they were arguing over, but everytime she looked back at Pyro's face.

"Please? For me?" Isabelle begged quietly.

"Fine! But it's not going to be easy! And if does not work… then we're doing what I say. No arguments?"

Isabelle nodded quickly, relieved to have saved her son from an inevitable doom for a few days.

Matt, Kit, and Eric all walked into the Mess Hall, with looks on their faces that could kill. Matt, who was naturally brown haired, was now competing with Kit's hair in the most blonde hair competition and his face was covered with blue polka dots. He like the other three boys had a chin full of stuble, which was unusual, because all of the boys usually were beard-free. Eric's hair was sticking every which way, and was looking sort of green, there were also green circles underneath his eyes. But Kit however was the funniest looking of them all. A giant red ball, much resembling a clown's nose was stuck to his own nose, his lips were bright red, and he was wearing thick eyeliner, mascara, and blush.

The trio waddled awkwardly across the Mess Hall to where Katie, Ming, Sunny and June were all enjoying their breakfast, and giggling.

"Hey, guys? Ever think of shaving?" Sunny asked.

"We couldn't," Eric said, rubbing his chin. "Someone took our shaving cream and sprayed it in our boxers last night when we were sleeping."

The girls burst into a fit of giggles.

"Think this is funny?" Kit asked, clearly irritable.

"Actually, we find it hilarious!" Katie answered her brother without looking up from her pancakes.

Matt turned to June. "How did you do it?"

"A magician never reveals her secret, why should I?" June smiled, turning to him, "Besides, _I_, didn't do it… Eric did." She said tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear. The girls had helped her straighten it that morning, but now she was having a hard time controlling it.

Eric, who had figured out that he had Elmer's green glitter glue in his hair as well with underneathe his eyes realized that he had it good compared to the other boys, decided to be an optimist and laugh it off. "I think it's brilliant, and I think I know how she did it but…"

"We're going to the city today." Kit said finishing his sentence. "And I don't want to go looking like this… We have our dignity to uphold." Kit said, sticking his chest out in the air as if there were medals of honor donned on his torso.

June, Sunny, and Ming all turned to Katie, waiting for the permission to help the Wild Bills. Katie reluctantly nodded. The boys gave silent cheers and then urged the girls to hurry up and finish their breakfasts so that they could fix them up. They polished off the last of their pancakes and then the boys led them up to their room.

"Boys!" Katie barked when they reached the room, then she let out a giggle. "Line up!"

The boys lined up in front of the bunk bed as Katie paced in front of them, inspecting them. "I get to work on my brother, he's gonna be the most irritable." Katie winked at her brother. "Ming work on Matt. June and Sunny, take care of Eric, he's gonna need two people. Elmer's glue is almost impossible to get out. You guys have the bath tub. Ming and I'll take turns with the sink. Everybody, hands in!" Katie motioned for the girls to stick their hands into an imaginary circle, mocking the guys when they play football. "Go, team, go!"

Sunny went into the bathroom to run warm water in the bathtub, but Eric hadn't moved yet, so June decided to wait in the room with him. June walked over to Eric, where Matt had been standing.

"Are you guys really mad at us?" June asked, hoping to start a conversation.

"Nope. Not at all." Eric smiled. "In fact we're proud, that prank was impressive. It's just the routine we go through, you know? After everytime a new kid joins us, and we always go out to the city to celebrate afterwards."

"Could've fooled me." June shrugged.

"That's the point. To make the newbie think that she went over the top. It's all good though. Last year Matt joined us from Germany. He had been at a mutant academy when the government attacked them… anyway, at the academy they had a zoology department… let's just say the girls had a rude awakening the next morning when they found fire ants all in their beds."

June laughed out loud, she brought her hand to her face to cover up the gaping smile.

"Yea, it was pretty funny." Eric agreed. "So, you mind explaining your power."

June glanced over to the bathroom where Sunny was probably waiting for them. "We should prolly check on the bathtub first, but don't worry, we have plenty time to talk."

Eric followed her to the bathroom.

"Bout time ya'll got here. Now, ya boy, git in da tub!" Sunny said in a heavy fake southern accent. June smiled.

"What do you mean?" Eric asked, horrified.

"We have to soak your head." June explained.

"I'm not taking my clothes off!"

"Oh, that's a pity, I wanted to meet your Oscar." Sunny giggled.

"What? Who's Oscar."

June looked at Sunny for the cue.

"You know," Sunny said and then nodded.

"Your Oscar Mayer wiener!" the girls shouted in unison, and then burst out in laughter from the look of Eric's face. Ming who had overheard the conversation next to them dropped the comb she had been working with as she doubled over with laughter.

Thirty minutes later June and Sunny were convinced that they wouldn't be able to get the glue out, and settled on cutting his hair.

"Have you cut hair before?" Sunny asked anxiously.

"Yeah, all the time!" June said reassuringly. Too bad it was only a half-truth. She had cut hair before. Her's, her grandmother's and Eagle's, but she had never cut a guy's hair before. "Don't worry, Eric, I can do it." How hard could it be? "Sunny you work on the glue on his face, give him a total facial!" she added with a squeal.

The pair of them led him to the toilet. He sat down on the closed seat, June sat on the back of the toilet behind him, one of her legs on either side of him, her right hand held the shears. Sunny left the room to go to get her facial stuff.

"So, you mind explaining now? Ororo said that you were in your bed the whole night, she makes nightly rounds sometimes, but how could you?"

"I possess people. I jump into other people's bodies."

"Then you wouldn't be in your bed would you?"

"Only my mind jumps. It's like an out-of-body experience."

"Oh." Eric said. "That's cool. Do you know what I can do?"

"Hold still." June said nonchalantaly.

Eric smiled, even though June couldn't see it, "Yes and no."

"No, I wasn't guessing your power. You need to sit still so I don't put a hole in your skull." June smiled.

"Oh." Eric stopped moving. "I control time. Anything to do with it, I control it."

"Really?" June asked.

Eric turned in his seat to face her, happy with the response he got. "Yeah!"

"Eric! I told you not to move!" June complained. "Now you've got a giant hole in your hair!"

"Oh, oops." Eric looked sheepish. "Well, it doesn't matter. I can fix that. All I have to do is rewind."

A/N: Hey you guys thanks for reading… I though I should let ya'll know that I can promise you some serious action in the next chapter. It's an absolute given…. Everything is gonna be more action-packed from now on… I just had to establish some stuff. Thanks for sticking by me, oh and please review!

Ms. Rockette

P.S. Oh and I think the chapters are gonna start getting longer.


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